Fate
by lyckan
Summary: The stars don’t interfere with humans and their pitiful, short lives and that's why they didn't care about the dying man on the side road... but someone does. LM/HG takes place after the Deathly Hallows rated M to be sure.
1. Chapter one

**Chapter one**

It was a cold winter night. Snowflakes fell slowly from a cold black sky. Icy stars gazed indifferently down on the frozen earth; their pale eyes fell upon a dark and abandoned side road without street lighting and onto a man who, with some difficulty, was trying to negotiate his way down it. He was limping and convulsing as terrible coughing fits shook his thin and emaciated frame repeatedly. The stars don't interfere with humans and their pitiful, short lives and that's why they didn't intervene as the man fell to his knees. They turned their backs to him without hesitation. He was only another short life that soon would be gone from mother earth's surface. The fate of the man on the dark road seemed helplessly bleak and he would probably have died if Fate herself hadn't intervened.

_**The Daily Prophet**_

_YET ANOTHER F__AILURE FOR AZKABAN'S NEW DIRECTOR. Dangerous criminals have recently escaped from the most heavily guarded prison for wizards in Great Brittan. Sam Hawkins, who recently took up the duty as director of Azkaban, has no comment as to who the prisoners are. However, a source within Azkaban's walls has informed the Daily Prophet that the prisoners escaped from the death-row cell section, or were set free. _

_Ever since the ministry re-introduced the death penalty there have been many prote__sts all over Britain against the ministry's cruelty and it is possible, according to the Daily Prophet's crime-experts, that someone who sympathizes with the prisoners has set them free. The death penalty was re-introduced as a way to definitively put an end to the war and give the death-eaters "what they deserve for their crimes." _

_Read more on page__s 4-5_

Ronald Weasley snorted and folded the newspaper he had been reading. He was a man of great importance, currently working at the ministry of magic; he was also one of the men behind the re-introduction of the death penalty.

"Have you read this Hermione?" He asked the woman across the table.

"No, I haven't dearest, but it seems as though it upsets you." Hermione retorted calmly, she was lazily browsing through a book on old wizard laws.

"It's that damned prison and that damned director, Sam Hawkins. I told Ian that he had death-eater contacts in his youth but he wouldn't listen to me. '_It's a smarty guy Ron,_' he said. Bull shit." Ron muttered and gave the table a good kick, "and it's not just _any_ bloody death eaters that have escaped either, it's that murderer Augustus Rookwood and that bloody Lucius Malfoy, they should have been put to death years ago."

"Calm down Ron." Hermione told her husband with a dangerously low voice, "You're going to wake Rose and Hugo."

"How can I calm down?" Shouted Ron as he rose from his chair, "the people who had a part in my brother's death are now walking on our streets again and who knows, they might kill again!"

"There is no need to get angry with me." Hermione told him irritably. "And besides, re-introducing that awful law makes you no better than them."

"What?!" Bellowed Ron, his ears within seconds changing to a bright red colour, "Are you accusing me of being a murderer?"

"Quiet down for Merlin's sake, the children-"

"Mom?"

Young Rose Weasley and her little brother Hugo appeared in the kitchen door. Rose held her brother's hand, both of them dressed in their pajamas.

"It's nothing my dears, mom and dad are just having an argument," said Hermione sending Ron a glare: "He will calm down now, won't you dearest?"

"Not until you've explained to me what you mean by calling me a murderer." Ron answered returning Hermione's glare.

"Dad is being unreasonable now my darlings, come, I'll sing you to sleep." Hermione told her children, she took Rose's hand and lifted Hugo so that he rested on her hip.

"Don't turn your back on me Hermione; we aren't through talking to each other!" Ron shouted after Hermione as she started to climb the stairs.

"We'll talk later Ronald," answered Hermione without turning around, her voice frosty.

* * *

Hermione couldn't sleep, the clock struck twelve and she still couldn't find peace enough to go lie down and rest. Ron snored beside her, his deep breaths and faint mumbling usually calmed her but not tonight. She felt betrayed by him. True, they used to fight and had done so ever since their schooldays but arguments like this one had become more common in their everyday life. It wasn't that she didn't love him, it was just that he'd become so bloody hard to live with.

Hermione sighed irritably untangled herself from the sweaty sheets and got up out of bed, Ron didn't even notice, he turned to the other side and snored even louder. She shook her head and tiptoed over to Rose and Hugo's room, her youngest had curled up in his older sister's bed, both of them were sound asleep. Hermione smiled softly, they were her treasure and perhaps the only reason why she chose to stay with Ron and fight for their relationship.

'_Perhaps I should go out for a while to gather my thoughts and get some fresh air_.' She thought and went downstairs.

She grabbed a pair of jeans and two green socks from the sofa and threw on a pair of shoes and her green, thick winter jacket. Hermione drew a deep breath and opened the door; the frosty winter night greeted her coolly. Hers and Ron's garden was in a deep winter slumber, the apple trees stood naked and dressed in frost. The lawn was equally white and when Hermione strode over it she could hear the faint rustling of frozen grass that broke under her feet. The stars that shone this night were particularly beautiful, they graced the earth with their appearance and together with the moon they gave the otherwise black earth a soft, white light.

Hermione was bewitched by the sheer beauty of it all, she had only planned for a quick breath of air but Fate had other plans. She exited the garden and found herself standing on the dark road outside. It was her idea to live on the countryside, far away from other people. She liked the stillness and the peace, the fact that they had no streetlight didn't bother her. She wasn't scared of the dark per say; she learned long ago that it wasn't the darkness itself that was dangerous but the things lurking inside it. And what dangers could possibly be out this beautiful night?

Hermione started walking; peace came with every step and Fate smiled brightly at her. She reached an open field and stopped only to watch the night sky. It was then that she heard a faint sound that resembled the breathing of a human. She felt a slight tingle of fear and reached into her inner jacket pocket and drew her wand; vine wood with a dragon heartstring core, almost a replica of the one that she'd lost to Greyback during the war.

"_Lumos_." She whispered and the tip of her wand enlightened the surroundings, the white light exposed stones, leafs and twigs on the road but she saw nothing that could have caused the sound she just heard.

"Hello?" She whispered and raised the wand so that she could see more of the world around her.

Shadows further down the road fled for her light and it was then she saw the body in the middle of the road. Her heart leapt in her chest, who was that? Was he hurt? Hermione hurried to the fallen mans side and kneeled beside him. She succeeded to turn him around and pressed her ear to his chest – he was still alive but in a very bad shape.

"Sir? Are you alright Sir? What's happened?"

The man mumbled something and Hermione brought her wand to his face so that she could get a better look at it, if he had any sort of head injuries. She was immediately struck by the sensation that she had seen this man before, an unpleasant feeling spread down her spine. His clothes were torn and a bit strange, they resembled a pair of pajamas. She was taken aback when the injured man took a steady hold of her hand in which she held her wand. Terror griped her heart when she noticed how strong the man was despite his current state of injury.

"Let go of me!" She shrieked. "What are you doing?"

The man didn't respond, instead he twisted her arm painfully and successfully got hold of her precious wand. Hermione watched how he opened his eyes; they were steel-grey and cloudy from pain and hunger. She recognized those eyes, she recognized this man.

"Lucius Malfoy." She whispered and watched how an unpleasant smile spread across his face, "What are you…?"

"Miss Granger…" The man whispered, his voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't used it in a long time.

"You…!"

Hermione couldn't find words for what she was feeling. A cold fear griped her heart and held it in a painful grip. This man was one of those who had fled from the death-row; he was an ex-deatheater, a murderer and a desperate man. As panic slowly spread through her body like a poison only one thought made sense to her; she had to have her wand back. She couldn't allow him to have her wand.

"To think, Miss Granger… that you would save my life…"

"It's Mrs. Weasley to you!" She spat and took hold of the arm in which he held her wand.

She felt how he gripped her shoulder with his other hand. He tried to get her off him but she refused to let him go. She had to have her wand back. She couldn't allow him to wander free in the world with a wand. They rolled around on the ground. He was bigger than her despite his evident weight loss but he was hurt and in bad shape, she could easily tire him out. Eventually he realized this too and it was in desperation that he cried:

"_Appareo!_"

And then there was blackness as Hermione and Lucius Malfoy together disappeared from Yorkhill road. Fate felt content as she went to rest.


	2. Chapter two

**Extract from (TAG) The Apparition Guide **

_Apparition__is an a__dvanced spell used by fully trained witches and wizards to disappear from one place and appear almost instantly somewhere else. A person who uses this spell is referred to as an Apparator. _

_Apparition becomes more difficult as distance increases. Only highly trained wizards __should try intercontinental Apparition. _

_**Side-effects:**__ If this spell is performed incorrectly, Apparition can result in the caster being "splinched," which refers to one part or parts of the caster's body being left behind. From what we know today, this happens when the caster is insufficiently determined and does not hold onto the three D's; destination, determination, and deliberation._

_**Rare side-effects: **__Apart from "splinching" other strange things have occurred when an Apparition spell is performed incorrectly. There have been reports of missing people and time-travelling even though (logically) there is no solid proof of this._

**Chapter two**

Darkness and stars passed them by at high speeds. Hermione fought hard to hold onto Malfoy; if she lost hold of him she would probably not see the next day. She felt an enormous pressure on her ribcage and it became harder to breathe. Her captor seemed to have lost consciousness, what would happen if he died? Hermione didn't even want to think about it.

'_Damn him to hell!_'

She felt a surge in the pit of her stomach and then they started falling. Pain spread across her body, she resisted the urge to scream. The pressure on her ribcage increased and she found herself fighting for air. Thoughts of death flickered inside her head, she didn't want to die; she wanted to see the day when Hugo and Rose begin to attend Hogwarts, she wanted to be there when Rose turned three and Hugo turned two, she wanted to _see_ her small children again. The darkness disappeared and she became aware of how fast they approached the earth below them. If she didn't do anything they would surely die when the crashed into the ground. She tore her wand from the unconscious Lucius Malfoy's grip and pointing it towards herself and Malfoy and screamed:

"_Levitate!_"

They slowed down a bit but the ground still came closer at a frightening speed. She screamed the Levitation charm again but to no use. With a bone breaking impact they collided with the grassy ground and then unconsciousness took Hermione away.

_Someone bent down over her__, his hair was that of an angel. He reached out and touched her head before darkness gripped her again._

_Someone was dabbing her forehead softly with a wet cloth. Her every bone ached, she wasn't sure if she was alive or dead._

_There was a sound somewhere, someone was talking. The voice was soft, reassuring, comforting. She felt drowsy and drifted away yet again._

Sharp sunlight landed on her face. Her right shoulder ached and she couldn't move her left leg, every time she breathed her chest burned like fire. She let out a faint moan and noticed how cracked her voice sounded. She heard someone enter the room with big, heavy footsteps.

"Ah, I see that you are awake my dear" a male voice said, she couldn't turn her head to look at him; she had no strength at all in her limbs.

"Quite a nasty fall, that." The man said and came closer.

When his face came into view she almost passed out yet again, except this time of fear. It was Lucius Malfoy! She tried to heave her body into a sitting position but her body was still weak and wouldn't obey her. She wanted to scream but hadn't the strength to do so. The man looked at her with an obvious look of puzzlement on his face.

"M-malfoy…! How are… what are you?"

"Do I know you?" The man asked with a crooked eyebrow.

"Where am I?" She asked with rising panic in her voice.

"At my manor, Malfoy manor." Answered Malfoy and gave her a questioning look: "You and the other man, who undoubtedly must be a relative of mine, fell right out of the sky. Probably an Apparition that went wrong, you shouldn't trust those spells my dear, I myself stick to port-keys."

"Y-you must be kidding me, you aren't Lucius Malfoy?" She stuttered.

"Oh! Now I understand; you mistook me for your travelling partner?" Said the Malfoy-replica with amusement in his voice: "I must admit that we resemble each other very much though it seems as if he's been through a lot he looked worse than you did when I found you."

Hermione went cold inside when she remembered a chapter from TAG (_The Apparition Guide_) about one of the rare side-effects that could be linked to Apparition; time-travelling. She hadn't thought about it before but the man that leaned over her had very strange clothes, they looked like something more at home in the seventeenth century.

She chewed her lip nervously, "What's today's date, Mr Malfoy?"

"It's the eighth of March…" Answered the man casually and added: "In the year of 1620."

Hermione almost fainted at this. She couldn't believe it. She had gone back in time and ended up at the mercy of Lucius Malfoy's great, great, great grandfather or something. She hadn't died, even though she probably had danced on the edge, _but_ she was as good as dead for the ones at home. Did she even exist "in her own time" anymore?

"Anything wrong my dear? You look a little pale…" Malfoy said carefully.

"I'm sorry; I'm just a bit taken by it all…" She stammered weakly.

Hermione's mind worked furiously, she wasn't allowed to expose them, she wasn't allowed to change history, she _had_ to get back to her own time again!

"You must be worried about your friend." Said Malfoy and smiled.

It took a while for Hermione to realize that he had referred to Lucius. She almost burst out laughing at the mere thought, but what should she tell him? He assumed that they were friends, travelling partners as it were. She couldn't tell him the truth, how would that sound?

'_Sorry to disappoint you Sir, but I and Lucius Malfoy are not friends, he tried to kill me and my friends when we were young and his son used to bully me when we were at school._'

'_As if_.' She thought to herself.

But what would happen when Lucius woke up? Had he planned this? What would happen if he told this Malfoy that she was a muggle borne? She noticed that the man now expected an answer. She had to take a chance.

In the end she found herself saying, "Yes, how is he?"

"He's in a bad shape but I'm quite sure he'll recover from his injuries," he replied reassuringly.

Biting her tongue and swallowing her pride, she managed to squeeze out a strained; "Good".

"I'm sorry my dear, I know that you must be tired but I'm so very curious, what's your name and what is the name of your friend? Since he resembles me so much we simply have to be related somehow." He said.

'_Shit what should I say?_'

She had no time to think so what came out was most certainly not what she had meant to say: "My name is Hermione and his name is Lucius."

"Is he a Malfoy?" He asked and furrowed his brow.

He looked at her with one raised eyebrow; she noticed how his eyes fell upon her left hand and her two golden rings. She immediately knew to which conclusions he had come.

"H-he's a Malfoy…" Said Hermione hurriedly and tried to come up with an explanation that sounded at least a bit truthful: "B-but I'm not, I'm Hermione We- Granger."

After that statement the man before her looked even more alarmingly suspicious and Hermione realized that what she just implied sounded very bad in this man's seventeenth century ears. A man and a woman that weren't married shouldn't travel alone together.

"I'm his maid." She added lamely and almost wanted to choke on her words because by saying this she had obediently admitted herself to a lower value than Lucius Malfoy; exactly the way he liked it.

"Oh!"

"We were attacked by bandits…" She trailed off and tried to sound as convincing as she could but she knew that her story was lame.

"The country-side is rough…" Said Malfoy and Hermione noticed how his interest in her had cooled off.

_A servant is always a servant and a Malfoy is always a Malfoy._

"Which part of the Malfoy family does your master belong to?"

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know that. I didn't even know that he had any relatives." Hermione said and shook her head.

"The Malfoy family has three branches on its family tree, which I know of. There are about four families that still live in France and about six here in Great Brittan but since you don't speak French…" He trailed of and he conjured an expression of thoughtfulness, it looked as if he just realized something: "Where _did_ you say that you lived, you and your master?"

"Can we have this conversation some other time Sir? I'm very exhausted and I'm sure that when my master is awake he'd be delighted to tell you everything about himself and his family… I can't seem to keep my thoughts straight anymore…"

He looks at me intently, a sneer slowly creeping onto his face, _he doesn't believe her_. But instead of persuading her further he says:

"Of course my dear, I'm sorry that I bothered you with my questions… would you like something to eat? Something to drink perhaps?"

Hermione shook her head faintly; she was just tired… and afraid.


	3. Chapter three

**Chapter three**

When Hermione awoke it was dark. Her body ached all over but that was not what hurt the most. She spilled tears of longing and panic. She wasn't sure but she must've dreamt about Rose and Hugo, seen their soft skin and heard their happy laughter. What if she, by travelling back in time, had made them undone? Cold self-loathing gripped her, what if she had erased them? That was worse than killing them! It was worse than slitting their throats with a knife. She might have taken them away from everyone's memories. She had robbed Mrs. Weasley of her two grand children and she had taken Ron's every memory of his own son and daughter. She might have changed history, she might have destroyed everything, she might have shattered the beautiful ending they actually got after the war.

But it wasn't all her fault… she didn't mean to… it was…

Malfoy…

It was his fault! It was he who had apparated without using the three D's… or had he? What if he had meant for this to happen? What was he playing at? And why did he bring me?

He needed a wand…

But he couldn't have known that I would be out that night. There is no way he could have planned for this. If he wanted to go back in time, why not use a time turner?

He had none, he's a fugitive and he had to take a chance…

But even so, there is no _solid_ proof that apparating could work as a replacement for a time-turner. Only a fool would take such a chance. Both of us could have ended up with one arm on Yorkhill road, a leg in London and the rest of us in Blackpool for crying out loud!

But he was desperate and desperate people do stupid things!

And why was he desperate? Wasn't it you who forced him to do something drastic? It was either taking a chance with your wand or ending up in Azkaban again and face the awaiting death-penalty…

Which is all Ron's doing!

Don't blame Ron for this mess; his intention was only to take revenge for his brother! _You_ let your guard down, _you _shouldn't have let go of your wand. If you had called for help directly instead of playing hero this wouldn't have happened.

No! This is all Lucius Malfoy's doing, he uttered the spell; I didn't! And besides, what's wrong with wanting to help people? I thought someone was badly injured and I only wanted to help! It's all Lucius Malfoy's fault!

Is it? _Can you blame him for not wanting to die?_

Hermione felt how tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't feel at all like the young woman she was, but like more her twelve year old self when she faced the troll in the girls' bathroom at Hogwarts.

"Hugo… Rose… my children…" She whispered and saw their little faces before her eyes.

She had been a young mother; she gave birth to Rose when she was nineteen and to Hugo when she was twenty-one. At first she didn't want Rose when she understood that she was pregnant, she wanted to get a decent career and a child would only get in the way. Ron, though, had been thrilled and his mother had promised to help. In the end she decided to keep the child and nine months later baby Rose was born… and Hermione couldn't help but love every bit of her, she was an angel, a little miracle made out of flesh and bone, she was her daughter.

And Hugo… oh Hugo! Her little boy! She could smell his baby skin and in her mind she could see his happy eyes. He was always laughing, Hugo. He was a ray of sunlight and love. He was a bit picky with food and could get terribly angry, something he probably had inherited from Ron, but he was rarely angry for a long time and he made up for his terrible temper with one, simple smile.

Hermione cried even worse now, the agony in her heart easily surpassed the one that she felt in her leg and her shoulder.

She _had_ to get back, she simply _had too_.

'_I have to find Malfoy! He has to tell me what he did!_' She thought and forced her badly hurt body to sit up in the bed.

After what felt like an hour she had succeeded to get her legs over the edge of the bed and, amazingly, managed to get out of bed and stand up.

Good, her leg wasn't broken after all…

She took her time to cross the room. It wasn't large but even the short distance between the bed and the door took her a long time since every step hurt and every breath tore at her lungs like fire. She definitely must've broken a rib.

When she got to the door she remembered that she still hadn't got her want back. _Where was her wand?_ Had the lord of this household taken it away from her or had he assumed that it belonged to Lucius?

What if Lucius Malfoy had her wand?

"_Accio Wand!_" She whispered.

Nothing happened.

She put a bit more force in her voice and said: "_Accio Wand!_"

Yet again nothing happened.

"_Accio WAND!_" She screamed.

Nothing happened and cold fear griped her heart.

"_Accio wand! Accio wand! Accio…_"

She realized that it was pointless, her wand was gone, her second wand. _Her precious wand_. She felt like crying again. _Why did this happen to her? Why?_

'_Get a grip Hermione_.' She thought to herself: '_You'll just have to find it again, if you find Malfoy you might just find your wand as well…_'

With her mind set she succeeded to open the door and found herself standing in a huge corridor, only lit by the dim glow of oil-lamps. In front of her was another door. She limped over to it and tried its handle, it was locked. She tried the next door and found that even that one was locked.

Hermione had attempted to open almost six doors when she heard a voice. It came from a door next to her, one that she hadn't tried yet. She limped over to that door and put her ear against its wooden surface.

"I didn't do it…" Said Lucius Malfoy's voice from the other side of the door.

Then it was quiet for several minutes, Hermione's heart beat loudly in her chest and the silence was even more frightening than the sound of the man on the other side of the door.

Just then he started speaking again, his voice was now trembling with what sounded like fear.

"No! I'm sorry my lord, I tried! I tried… please my lord; I need to save my son!"

After that it was yet again quiet and Hermione realized that Lucius Malfoy must be talking in his sleep. Relieved by that fact she tried to open the door; it worked!

She found that Lucius room was larger then hers, it also had more exclusive furniture. She knew exactly why.

_A servant is a servant and a Malfoy is a Malfoy._

She found the person she was searching for sound asleep in the large, four-poster bed that was the centre of the room. He was clutching his pillow as if he had a bad dream. In the pale moonlight she could see that his face had several bruises and cuts. He looked as though he was in a lot of pain.

"Master…" He whispered with agony in his voice.

She almost felt sorry for him. _Almost_.

'_I have to talk to him_…' She reflected and reached forward to shake him but thought better of it, she didn't know how injured he was.

'_How weird isn't this?_' She angrily thought: '_I'm standing beside Lucius Malfoy while he is sleeping. What shall I say to him?_'

'_Hello Mr. Malfoy! Good night Sir, I'm just wondering what the hell has happened!_'

'_Yeah right…_'

She hadn't noticed that Lucius Malfoy's breathing had become lighter and that his body had stiffened a little.

'_To hell with it, I'm shaking the man awake, he deserves it!_' She thought irritably and reached forward once more.

Only inches away from Lucius Malfoy's shoulder he, unexpectedly and with amazing speed and accuracy, reached out and her hand away from him. She saw how he opened his eyes and stared at her with contempt and loathing.

"Don't touch me mudblood!" He hissed.

It took her a while to regain composure; he had taken her by surprise. The comment about her being a mudblood stung a bit, it was so long ago someone had called her that. But she wouldn't show _him_ that he had gotten to her.

"You bastard!" She spat at him: "This is all your fault! What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" He hissed back, narrowing his eyes into tiny slits.

"You don't _know?_" Hermione jeered back: "Have you been asleep all the time up until now? Have you any idea about where you've landed us?"

"At Malfoy manor." He sneered with confidence.

"Yeah, you did that alright." She huffed.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"How did you recon you ended up in that bed?" She asked and resisted the urge to laugh at him: "I hope you didn't think that I carried you because I would never lower myself to touch vermin like you!"

"Not that tone if you please mudblood!" He snarled and Hermione could see how he clenched his jaw: "Draco lives at Malfoy manor, it's only logical to assume that he took me inside. But why he brought _you_ in is more than I can understand. Perhaps the boy has gone soft."

Hermione chuckled a little, she enjoyed having the upper hand, it gave her power and for a little while she allowed herself to taste the sweetness of it.

"You haven't even spoken to the owner of this house yet you pompous bigot." She whispered: "Tell me, what date do you think that it is today? No, better up, what _year_ do you think that it is?"

"Don't play smart with me you little bitch!" Lucius Malfoy hissed and tried to sit up, but he failed and fell back against the pillows once again.

"No guess, hm?" She whispered, oddly enough finding pleasure in taunting him: "Then I'll enlighten you, your little attempt at apparition without _concentration_ ended us up in the glorious year of 1620!"

"I don't believe you…" He whispered back: "You mudblood slut! I don't believe you!"

"That's up to you." Hermione answered him coolly: "But when our host asks you about us you'd better tell him what I did or there is no telling what could happen."

"What do you mean?"

"If we change history we might erase ourselves… we cannot let anyone understand that we come from the future…" She started to explain: "You might not believe me now, but when you face your great, great, great, great grandfather or whatever he is you _will_ and when that happens I don't want you to destroy _my_ future!"

He didn't reply, he didn't look at her and she saw how his lips were curled in disgust and it hurt her a bit that it was because she was a muggle borne.

"Very well." She sniffed: "I've told him that you and I were attacked by bandits and that I was your…"

Here she paused a moment, she'd rather kiss a toilet seat then saying what she was about to say but she had no choice, their stories had to match.

"I told him that I was your maid and don't you dare to make an affair about that!"

But here she could see that he smiled, she had given him a little victory and he knew that she hated it.

"I'll leave the rest too you and don't you dare spill anything about…"

"Keep silent, servant." Lucius Malfoy drawled.

"Shut up." She returned.

He chuckled then and it was a very uncomfortable sound.

"I'll teach you some manners later servant." He said with a voice that was soft as velvet and just as cold as a winter night.

A tingle of fear spread down her back.

"I hope you are in pain." She sneered to cover the uncomfortable feeling she felt.

She turned on her heal and limped out of his room.


	4. Chapter four

**Chapter ****four**

Hermione was fully awake when the morning came. She was also very hungry, for how long had she been without food? Just then she heard a faint knocking on the door and a little creature with long ears and big, blue eyes peeked through the door opening.

'_A Malfoy family without slaves is just like a book without pages._' She thought grimly.

The little house elf crept in on his toes so as not to disturb her. Hermione found that a bit amusing since she obviously didn't do anything important. The little creature bowed low and stayed so for an uncomfortably long time.

"Ehm… you may stand." Hermione said and tried to sound friendly.

The elf straightened up as if her every word was to be obeyed without questioning.

"Master has sent Riel to ask miss if miss wishes anything, master thought that miss might be hungry." The elf said and lowered his gaze so that it wouldn't meet Hermione's by mistake.

"I would love some food, Riel." She said sincerely: "But I wonder if it would be possible for me to eat in the kitchen? I need to stretch my legs a bit and some company would be lovely too."

The elf seemed astonished at her question. He blinked, twice. Hermione didn't think he'd been expecting that question at all.

"Miss would be welcome to eat in the great hall if miss wishes… it's not appropriate for a witch to eat in the kitchen."

"I that case I would need my clothes. I don't think your master would approve if I were to eat my dinner in the great hall dressed in only this nightgown." Hermione said slowly. There would be no point in trying to persuade the elf in this question, he only followed the rules.

"Riel is very sorry miss." The elf said with a grave expression on his face and looked down at his hands: "Miss Clothes had to be cut from miss body, you cannot wear them."

Hermione stared at the elf. Had she been hurt that badly? For how long had she really been unconscious? And who had taken care of her?

The elf winched under her stare and when she noticed she immediately took her eyes of him. It definitely wasn't his fault that she had been injured or that her clothes had been destroyed. Was it really anybody's fault?

"Riel will ask master what Riel should do." The elf said and his voice seemed to apologise for his very existence.

"Don't worry Riel; I'll wait for you to return." Hermione said and watched as the Elf disappeared with a soft 'pop'.

She rubbed her brow. She still couldn't grasp what she'd been through. She still couldn't believe that she had left her two children. It pained her enormously to know that they might not exist in the future.

Could Ron look after them when she was gone? Would he be able to? He always worked so much and only came home in time to kiss them good night. But did Ron really exist in the future? How much had she changed when she went back in time?

She was startled by the sound of the returning house elf. He approached her with a bundle of dark blue fabric in his thin arms.

"Master said that miss could have this dress, master said that the blue colour would match your b-beautiful brown hair."

'_A Malfoy that gives a servant a dress, with compliments to her hair?_' She thought and raised her left eyebrow a bit: '_Well it seems like there is hope for the world yet._'

"That was very thoughtful of him." She said with a smile.

"Riel will help miss to dress if she needs help, master said that miss would probably still be in pain and master did not want miss to overstrain herself." The elf said and gave her the dress.

Hermione was surprised at how soft the fabric was; it almost felt like silk and nothing like the rough woollen material she had expected. She winced in pain as she got up from the bed, her every muscle was sore and she could feel the jabbing pain of her broken rib.

'_It's a miracle that I'm still alive._' She reflected and allowed Riel to help her out of the nightgown.

She gasped when she saw how battered her body was; she had wounds on her hips and on her arms. Her whole body was covered in bruises.

"Master says that miss will be fine now that miss is up and walking. Master will give miss a potion that removes the bruises." Riel told her reassuringly and helped her to put on the long silken stockings.

"It seems as though I owe your master more than my life." Hermione said and smiled.

When Hermione was fully dressed Riel offered her a mirror so that she could see the result. Hermione was grateful when she noted that at least her face wasn't so badly bruised, she had a small swelling under her right eye and a bruise on her chin but nothing more. The blue dress was beautiful and it covered all of her bruises, except from those on her hands.

"Miss looks lovely in that dress." Riel the house elf said and smiled a little: "But master also required that miss wear these."

The little creature snapped with his fingers and a pair of black slippers appeared in his hands. He smiled and helped her put them on.

"Thank you Riel, now I won't have to get cold."

"Miss should thank master." The elf replied: "Now let me take miss downstairs. Riel has prepared food for miss and Riel's master."

Hermione nodded and followed the house elf through the door. She grimaced when it became obvious that she still limped a bit, she wouldn't really be able to do an impressing entrance.

Malfoy manor was very impressive. Every wall was covered with portraits that whispered and pointed as she and Riel passed them by. She noted that the door to Lucius Malfoy's chamber still was closed. He was probably too weak to join their dinner. She found that very relieving.

Riel helped her down the stairs as she found them very difficult to get by.

She was astonished by the wonderful architecture and the tasteful, though very old fashioned, decoration and she was even more amazed when she and Riel entered the great hall. The room was oak panelled and had a red marble floor. Four huge windows, draped with green velvet curtains, gave a splendid view over a wonderful garden in its winter slumber. Two fireplaces spread their warmth throughout the room and several paintings decorated the walls. A huge oak table stood in the middle of the room and two green armchairs were placed in front of one of the fireplaces. The roof was high above them; it was white and from it hung a huge, enchanting crystal chandelier.

"Sit down miss, master will be here in a while and Riel will serve your dinner." The house elf said and offered her a seat at the table.

She nodded and sat down. The chair was comfortable and she allowed herself to fall back against its back support. No sooner had she done that when a familiar voice said:

"I hope the dress was to your liking?"

"Yes thank you Mr. Malfoy, it was very lovely." She answered and turned around to look at the man.

He was dressed in knee-length breeches with a matching short-waisted doublet that was slitted across the chest with sleeves slitted to the elbow. He wore a white shirt collar that had a high stand and fall on his shoulders and Hermione noted that it was trimmed with scallops of lace. He wore cream colored cuffed boots with butterfly-shaped spurs, and his long, blond hair flowed freely over his shoulders.

He smiled apologetically towards her; something she thought looked strange in a face that resembled Lucius Malfoy's face so much. "I am sorry, I haven't introduced myself properly yet. My name is Philip Malfoy, lord of Wiltshire."

She didn't know what to say, this man didn't behave as she had expected, and if he hadn't looked so much like Lucius she would not have believed that he was a Malfoy.

"I'm honored." Was the only thing that she could come up with.

"I am truly sorry that I gave you the cold shoulder the other day, I was merely curious about the two of you. But I understand now that you and your master aren't very close to each other and it was unfair of me to ask you questions that you evidently couldn't answer." He said and Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing, a pure-blooded Malfoy _apologized_ to her.

"It's quite alright…" She said and looked down at her hands: "How is he doing?"

"I haven't talked to him yet, but Riel gave him breakfast and lunch today and he ate with a good appetite. I'm going to visit him after our dinner, you are welcome to join me if you'd like."

"Yes, I would like that, thank you." She murmured and was thankful when Riel arrived with their food; _this_ Malfoy was a bit disturbing somehow. She had expected him to be cruel and loathing just like Lucius but when he turned out to be the opposite she didn't really know how to handle him.

The food that Riel served was magnificent; pink and tender lamb meat with herbs with a side of tasty root vegetable stew. For drinks they were served a rich, red wine. Hermione couldn't complain; Riel was a very good cook.

"You look troubled my dear." Philip Malfoy noticed.

And without thinking Hermione let the thing that troubled her most slip, "I… I just miss them."

"Did you lose someone?"

"My family…" She whispered: "My two little children… and my husband… they're gone."

"Dear me!" Philip shouted, clearly outraged: "What kind of monsters can kill children?"

"You would be surprised if I told you how ordinary some monsters can be." She answered and felt a pang of guilt.

'_Very ordinary…_'

"I'd rather not talk about it Mr. Malfoy." She said and felt how tears of weakness fell from her eyes: "It hurts too much."

"I understand my dear, you must forgive me, I live a very isolated life and the cruelty of the outside world does shock me sometimes."

"I and my master were the only ones that made it. He was almost dying when I found him, they had broken his wand in two so he took my wand and said that he would bring us somewhere safe… but… he was badly injured and he fainted and couldn't… I thought we were going to die." She lied and stared stubbornly down on her plate.

"How awful!" Philip Malfoy burst out, Hermione could tell from the way he acted that he had bought her lie.

"Yes." She whispered, "Do you know what became of my wand…? Did it break?"

"Oh! No, your wand made it, a fine piece of work, that." He said and smiled: "Would you like to have it now?"

She nodded and felt very relieved.

"Riel!" Her host called and in the blink of an eye the little elf stood before them, bowing so deep that his long nose touched the floor.

"Yes my master?"

"Will you be a good elf and fetch the girl her wand?"

The lord of the manor gave her a smile as the creature disappeared, how could he be a Malfoy?

"While Riel is away, will you do me the honour of letting me escort you upstairs? I'm sure you must be tired and anxious to meet your master."

She stared at him, why couldn't men in her time speak like that?

"I would be delighted." She responded: "But there is really no need… I mean… I'm just a servant and you're…"

"What nonsense." Philip smiled and got up to offer her his arm: "My father was a cruel man that was above everything else. He beat my mother and he accidentally killed my brother, the house elves were so terrified of him that they almost refused to assist him when he asked. When he died I made a promise to treat everyone with respect."

"That's admirable." She smiled and allowed him to lead her out of the great hall and up to the second floor, he almost had do carry her up the stairs.

When they reached Lucius door she stopped and turned to face him.

"Would you mind if I went in first? I need to talk to him in private." She asked pleadingly.

"Of course, call to me when you're done talking." He answered and gave her a dazzling smile.

'_God, he is handsome…_'

"Thank you." She said and smiled thankfully.

He opened the door for her and she went inside, when the door closed behind her a not so welcome voice greeted her.

"Good day _servant_." Drawled Lucius Malfoy from his bed, Hermione noticed that he had succeeded in sitting up.

"Bastard." She replied.

"Language mudblood." He sneered and gave her an icy stare: "What do you want?"

"I came to remind you of our agreement. The lord of the manor is coming to see you and I don't want you to _fuck things up_." She hissed: "Because if you do I'll make you live to regret it."

"My, my, my… the little mudblood has grown herself a pair of teeth." He chuckled.

A cold shiver went down her spine when she saw his cruel expression. Memories from the war came to mind; that awful night in Malfoy manor when Bellatrix nearly killed her. He was a murderer, a cold-blooded killer and he hated her. How could she count on him keeping their secret?

"Don't worry mudblood." He purred: "I will keep to your story; after all, you've put yourself at my mercy… Now, enlighten me, what have you told our host?"

"I-…" She started but he'd had knocked her off balance, what did he mean exactly?

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He mocked.

"I've told him that we were attacked by bandits. I lost my husband and my two children. You can come up with your own story about your own losses; I haven't said anything about that to our host. _You_ will have to come up with a believable story about how you are related to this man and you'll also have to tell him _where _we come from."

"Quite a lot you've put upon your masters shoulder, servant." He said and rubbed his chin: "Who is our host?"

"His name is Philip Malfoy." She answered: "And he is quite a gentleman."

He stared at her for a while; she could've sworn that he'd gone paler. Was it fear she saw in his eyes?

"Philip…" He said with hesitation: "I've heard of him, he's the one that eventually married a…"

Some kind of realization dawned upon him and left his jaw hanging.

"What?" She asked, curious about his reaction.

"Do not interrupt people when they are speaking mudblood." He hissed.

She closed her mouth and ignored the pain his outburst caused her.

'_Why does he hate me so?_' She wondered.

"You can let our host come in." Lucius sneered.


	5. Chapter five

**Chapter ****five**

As Philip Malfoy entered the room you could have heard a needle drop. All colour drained from Lucius Malfoy's face and Hermione had to stifle a gasp behind her hands; the two of them could have been twins.

Lucius Malfoy straightened after a while in his bed and clasped his hands behind his back. Hermione noted how he let his features fall into a neutral mask.

"Philip Malfoy I presume?" He asked, his manner rather cool.

Philips face had gone from open and smiling to a frozen mask. "The very same and you are Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yes, that is my name." Lucius answered: "It's a pleasure to finally meet my saviour. I understood from my servant that you saved our lives."

"Thank you but I only did my duty as a gentleman." Philip insisted in an icy tone: "Especially since the one in dire need of my help seems to be a relative of mine. What kind of person would I be if I let you and your dazzling young servant die?"

Hermione felt how her cheeks grew hot.

"You are far too humble my dear Philip." Lucius said and raised an eyebrow: "I hope you don't mind if I call you by your first name, we are after all, related."

"I agree, Lucius."

"My servant has told me that you wanted an explanation from me?" Said Lucius airily and gave the other man a cold smile. Hermione thought he sounded rather rude but couldn't really say why.

Philip shrugged his shoulders. "I was merely curious. It wasn't my intention to intrude."

"No need to apologise Philip, I'd be delighted to answer your questions." Lucius replied, his eyes narrowing: "I suppose my servant has told you something at least?"

"I didn't want to press the matter with her, women can be so fragile sometimes but I gather that she has suffered great losses." Philip replied.

Hermione couldn't help but sobbing when her children were mentioned. She received a cold glare from Lucius.

"Quit that ungraceful snivelling servant." Snapped Lucius: "You are embarrassing me."

Hermione stared at him, tears stuck in her throat.

'_How can he be so cruel?_'

Philip looked quite shocked; he surely hadn't expected Lucius to behave that way.

Lucius on the other hand paid neither of them any attention as he started his story. "I am of French decent originally, I was raised in France by my father Claude de Malfoy and my mother Jean de Malfoy, originally Jean Renoir. But France, as you know is quite… dangerous right now so I decided a couple of years ago to move to Great Britain. I married a woman from Scotland and eventually settled down there." Lucius explained and Hermione wondered if there really had been a Claude and Jean de Malfoy that lived in Franc during the seventieth century.

"How come the girl doesn't speak French?" Philip asked, his left eyebrow slightly raised.

"She's a servant." Lucius drawled: "And she's from England, surely you don't expect me to educate my servants?"

Philip didn't answer; Hermione noticed that his facial expression had grown quite stern. She smiled a little; it felt good having him on her side. Philip Malfoy had, within the space of only a few hours, ended up on her list of "good" people.

"How come you… came falling down from the sky on my grounds? Is there a particular reason you choose to… end up here and not on your own grounds?" Philip mutters, clearly affected by Lucius' demeanour.

Lucius leaned back against the pillows and made no haste to answer Philips question. To anyone unaware of the situation it would have looked as though Lucius was disrespectful, but Hermione knew that he was buying time.

"My servant might have mentioned to you that we were attacked by bandits?" Lucius asked, his voice relaxed: "That's not really the whole truth. As you know there is a rather _unfriendly_ climate for the wizard kind in Europe right now. Our household was attacked by peasants that _accused_ us for being witches and wizards. Normally I don't allow the servants to have wands for safety reasons, with the exception of this girl who got her wand from my wife… the servants were quite easy targets for the ravaging mob."

"We have the same problem over here." Philip said airily: "The muggles are quite suspicious this time around. I've… encountered… a lot of unfriendly people as of late."

Lucius nodded without saying anything, Hermione wondered how he was going to explain the fact that he had landed them on Philips grounds since the Apparator had to _know_ the location to which he was heading.

"Muggles aren't trustworthy." Lucius murmurs, his eyes travelling to Hermione: "As for why I landed myself and my servant on your grounds I cannot say for sure, I was barely able to stand let alone think straight. I do believe however that it can have something to do with the fact that I knew your father briefly, André Malfoy."

Yet again the room went dead silent; Hermione wondered how Lucius could have the courage to come up with such a dangerous lie.

"You knew my father?" Philip asked, his voice just above a whisper.

"That is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but our fathers knew each other. I don't know if you were born back then, but my father brought me here once I was seven years old. We stayed overnight."

Hermione felt sorry for Philip, Lucius lied to him in a very cruel way and told him things about his own father, a man he himself hadn't known very well.

The room fell silent once again.

"You must be tired Lucius." Philip said all of a sudden: "I will try to make your stay here as comfortable as possible, let me know if there is anything amiss."

"I will Philip and once I'm feeling better I will repay you for your efforts." Lucius said.

"Dinner is at six tomorrow if you have the energy to join us, that is…" Philip offered, Hermione could tell that he wouldn't insist if Lucius turned him down.

"That would be appreciated." Lucius said with a drawl, Hermione wondered why he insisted on aggravating the other man. What could Philip have done to deserve that kind of treatment?

Philip gave Lucius a cold nod and turned around to leave.

"I'm sorry." Hermione whispered as Philip brushed past her.

He gave her a wary smile and she felt how her knees grew weak. It was strange to see a loathed face so handsome.

"You are dismissed servant." Lucius sneered.

"I am dismissed when I want to, you bastard." Hermione retorted angrily: "And why did you have to treat him that way? He saved our lives for fuck's sake."

"Language mudblood!" Lucius seethed: "And don't you dare to make eyes at my ancestor!"

"I did no such thing." Hermione argued even though she felt a sting of embarrassment: "I am just being polite, something you seem incapable of."

"Don't you lecture me on things I know far better then you do mudblood." Lucius sneered, his lips curling in disgust.

"Oh, so what you just did was '_being polite_' was it?" She asked venomously.

"You would never understand; that man is even below vermin like you. Your kind at least cannot help what they are, he on the other hand…" Lucius face twisted into an ugly grimace of contempt.

Hermione laughed then. "Oh! So it's just you feeding your prejudice a bit, as usual. For a second I thought that he was something like a murderer."

Lucius eyebrows furrowed dangerously and his voice was cold as ice when he answered. "I promise you, mudblood, that when I have recovered from this state of injury I'll make you sorry for mouthing off like this."

"By then I will be the one with a wand and you'll be the one who's sorry." Hermione retorted.


End file.
